Witches and Yokai
by Li Sara1
Summary: Horii was crazy in love with Sesshoumaru, a half-Yokai, yet she still wanted to be a witch Horii hesitated between continuing to be a witch and marrying a half-Yokai. However, it seemed that there was no choice? Because the yokai said, if she didn't marry him, she would be resurrected. What twisted love!
1. Chapter 1

[Inuyasha fanfiction] Witches and Yōkai

Sara Li

Chapter 1

The setting sun was slanting to the west, and it was the best haunting time for Yōkai.

Horii was on her way to the shrine. She wore the common white robes and red pants, the traditional witches' clothing style. A well-crafted ritual fan was held in her hand. There was a small talisman bag tied at her waist. She was a young witch with a straight back and slender profile. With her leisurely steps, the wide sleeves danced slowly.

Along the way, the villagers, who were working on both sides of the road, suspended their works and greeted Horii.

"Lord Horii."

"Have you gone to see Eiko again?"

"Thank you, Lord Horii, for asking me to thank you!"

"Lord Horii …"

The villagers expressed their enthusiasm one after another. Horii looked at them, smiled and nodded before continuing to walk towards the shrine.

…

The shrine was built on a mountain. The mountain was so small that can be viewed as a little hill. A long grey-white stone staircase paved from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain and the staircase ended at the entrance of the shrine. Halfway up the stairs, Horii suddenly raised her head and saw Mao standing a few steps away from her against the light.

"You spent too much time!" Mao, who also dressed in a red and white witch cloth, raised her chin slightly. A trace of impatience appeared on her beautiful face. "A simple exorcism, how could you spent half a day?"

Horii looked at her with curved eyebrows and smiled. Being honest was hard for Mao, she always insisted on pretending an arrogant attitude even though she was worried about Horii.

If Horii hadn't seen through her fake self-esteem nature, it wasn't certain that they would have become friends.

"Don't laugh!" Mao always felt that every time when Horii smiled at her, she would appear gentle and helpless, as if she was accommodating a child with a bad temper, which made Mao very frustrated.

Horii walked to Mao and reached out to touch her head. Horii was half a head shorter than Mao, but doing this was extremely smooth for her. She did this just like how she usually caressed the black cat in the shrine.

"Damn it! Don't treat me like a child to comfort me!" Mao complained discontentedly and patted the restless hand, "You haven't answered why you have been gone for so long!"

Horii still smiled and remained silent.

"What are you laughing at? Say something! You can already speak, why are you pretending to be mute?"

Horii lowered her eyes slightly. She didn't pretend to be mute on purpose. Because she had been hoarse for so long, and her voice hadn't fully recovered, so it was difficult to utter a complete sentence now.

However, knowing that if she continued to remain silent, Mao would explode. Horii tactfully spread out Mao's palm and slowly wrote, " Eiko fell asleep and pulled me tightly. So I stayed at Aunt Fujiwara's house for a while longer."

If Eiko hadn't grabbed her hand and she also wouldn't want to wake up Eiko, who had been torn by the Yōkai for days. She would come back early.

Mao looked at her explanation and snorted, "Little girl is trouble."

Horii thought that you are only thirteen or fourteen years old, and no different from Eiko, who is six years old. However, she would not tell Mao if that was the case, lest she becomes arrogant again, she would have to think of a way to comfort her.

So she continued, "Where's Lord Reiko?"

Reiko was the witch who rescued her from the hands of the Yōkai and took her back to the village. She was also the teacher of Mao and herself, responsible for teaching them how to become a qualified witch. Most likely, she had also instructed Mao to appear here.

"Lord Reiko is setting up a barrier … I don't know why, but the spiritual power of the barrier has been drained very quickly recently. This is already the second time this month that it has been repaired."

Mao frowned as she spoke, clearly feeling that something was amiss. One must know that Reiko was a witch with extremely powerful spiritual power. The barrier she had set up could last at least half a year, but recently, the spirit formation had become unstable. If Reiko hadn't been repairing it, there would have been a Yōkai invading the village long ago.

"Still can't figure out the reason?" Horii wrote again.

"In the beginning, we suspect that it was a Yōkai, but Lord Reiko said that she can't sense the Yōkai energy. Furthermore, the barrier is unstable because of the loss of spiritual energy. There is no sign of any damage."

Mao bitted her lips as she spoke. This was her usual thought-provoking gesture, '"You should know that under normal circumstances, Spiritual Energy will automatically lose. But it seems like someone has accelerated the speed of the loss of Spiritual Energy …Reiko said that this speed might be even faster in the future. She needs to set up another barrier within the original one, otherwise, there will probably be more Yōkai which invade village just like the one attacked Eiko."

Hearing Mao's words, Horii also frowned. So the barrier was already weak enough to allow Yōkai to take advantage of this opportunity to enter? She thought that the Yōkai on Eiko was provoked by her when she sneaked out of the village, but she didn't expect that it was the Yōkai that entered the village. The Yōkai had fought with her before, and its power was very weak. However, it was very difficult to discover that it was attached to people, and it would not be easy to peel them off.

"Don't worry, Lord Reiko will definitely fix it!" Mao was the first to regain her senses. She patted Horii's shoulder and comforted her. Her tone was filled with trust in Reiko. "Let's go." Horii nodded and quickly followed Mao back to the shrine.

Chapter 2

Witch Reiko was a kind and beautiful woman. Anyone who saw her would feel this way.

She was dressed in white cloth and red pants, her knee-length black hair gently draped over her back. A pair of gentle and bright eyes smiled as if they were filled with starlight. People are willing to share everything with her when they were watched by her beautiful eyes.

At this moment, she was staring at Horii with such a pair of eyes. The gaze was gentle and calm.

Reiko wasn't in a hurry to speak, so Horii wasn't in a hurry either. The things that made Reiko feel awkward were definitely not trivial matters. She never liked to be troubled.

"Horii." Reiko said apologetically, "I need your help. I wonder if you're willing."

"It's Horii 's honour to be able to help Lord Reiko." Horii wrote on the paper. She respected the witch who had saved her life and worked hard to heal her. If she could, she would not refuse.

"Speaking of this thing, it was my fault." Reiko smiled. "The witch of the neighbouring village passed away not long ago, but the spiritual power of the successor was too weak to protect the villagers. Recently, there were Yōkai attacking their village, so they had no choice but to ask me for help. I agreed, but …"

"It's impossible for you to leave the village. If you leave, no one will be able to maintain the barrier. At that time, the village will be attacked by a large number of Yōkai" Horii immediately guessed the reason for Reiko's hesitation.

"Yes, I have already planned to let Mao go. Her ability is sufficient for this matter. However, Mao is not as stable as you. I really can't be at ease with letting her go alone, so …" Reiko hesitated. She also felt that such an arrangement was not reasonable. After all, Horii had only been a witch for less than a year, and it was difficult for her to protect herself in the face of danger. It was really difficult for her to take care of others at the same time.

"I will accompany Mao. Please rest assured." Horii agreed without any hesitation.

"Then I'll leave it to you." Reiko looked at the answer written on the paper and hesitated for a moment before saying, "I've flipped through the ancient books and made up a new medicine. You can try again when you get back."

Reiko had always felt guilty about not being able to recover Horii 's voice.

Horii touched the faint scar on her neck and nodded with a smile.

Although it was difficult for her to utter a single word in its entirety, it was much better than utterly being dumb. At least she could see the hope of recovery.

…

Before leaving, Reiko gave Horii a stack of talismans made by her. Horii carefully kept the talismans in a small bag at her waist.

She had only just become a witch for a short time. So far, she had only learned how to use talismans, let alone her terrible archery skills. Her accuracy was so bad that her friend also might be assaulted by her arrow. Therefore, she did not envy Mao at all for having obtained the Demon Breaking Arrows that had exerted special power.

Although it was a neighbouring village, the Maple Village wasn't close at all. It took more than half a day to arrive there.

"So far." Mao 's face showed exhaustion. , "How long will it take to get there?"

"We should be arriving soon." Horii held her hand and slowly wrote in the palm. In fact, she was exhausted as well. But thanks for her special physique, the burning sun did not affect her so much. So she did not feel as irritated as Mao.

"I don't know why I always have a bad premonition. I hope it's just my illusion … Ah, is it that village?" Mao suddenly pointed. Horii looked in the direction she was pointing at and saw a village that seemed to be enveloped in white mist. It only vaguely revealed a rough outline.

Looks like there's something wrong. Horii thought.

…

It wasn't until the two of them reached the village that the things in the village became clear.

Mao stood at the entrance of the village and straightened her messy witch costume. Then, she tied up her long hair with a white rope and put on a noble posture that was different from usual. After this preparation, then she walked in.

"As a witch, you need have to look like a witch." Every time Horii was surprised by such an evident contrast, Mao always explained like this. Unfortunately, Horii had yet to learn the ability to change her role as she pleased.

"Lady Witch." The old village chief, who had been waiting for a long time, came forward and said, "Please help us …" His voice suddenly stopped when he saw Mao 's face. Obviously, he hadn't expected the witch was not Reiko but another young one.

Mao had always hated people who doubted her ability because she was young. She raised chin and snorted, "I was entrusted by Lord Reiko to eliminate Yōkai. Do you have any dissatisfaction?"

Even if he was really dissatisfied, he wouldn't speak it out, not to mention that it was still a time for him to ask for help. After all, no matter how young a witch was, she was still a witch, wasn't she?

The old village chief has been a slick man all his life. He knew much how to please someone. Knowing that Mao was unhappy, he immediately smiled and said, "Lady Witch is kind-hearted. We are grateful for receiving your help. How can we be dissatisfied?"

"There's no need for you to flatter me. Tell me about the current situation." Mao interrupted him.

When it came to the condition, the old village chief's expression immediately became serious. "Ever since the Yōkai attacked our village, many villagers have been unconscious for some reasons. When they woke up, they seemed to have lost their rationality and attacked their relatives. It looks like they were possessed by some evil things …" he said.

"Where are the villagers with problems now?" Mao asked after listening to his narrative.

"They are locked up in a shrine in the village."

"Let's go and take a look at their situation before we make any plans." After pondering for a while, Mao said, "Horii, what do you think?" She turned to look at Horii, who nodded at her.

"Village Chief, please lead the way."

The old village chief smiled and made a gesture. He took the lead in walking towards the shrine in the middle of the village.

"Horii?"

After walking for a while, Mao found that Horii hadn't caught up. She turned around and saw that Horii was still standing there in a daze. Immediately, she shouted angrily, " Horii!"

This time, even the Village Chief turned his head and looked over.

Strange, could it be that I was mistaken? Was that black shadow just an illusion? Horii muttered in her heart.

She stared at the village chief's face suspiciously. Seeing that there was nothing, she could only silently withdraw her gaze and quicken her pace to the side of Mao.

"What's wrong with you?" Mao nudged Horii with her elbow.

Shaking her head silently, Horii held her hand and slowly and solemnly wrote two words in her palm: Be careful.

Chapter 3

Mao didn't ask what to be careful about. Since she and Horii had known each other, the tacit understanding between the two of them was enough to convince her that Horii would never harm her. Moreover, as she got closer and closer to the shrine, she felt somewhat anxious.

Mao griped tightly her hands and caressed the lines on bow Only then did this, she felt a little more at ease.

"Here we are."

While she was still wandering around, the village chief stopped and pointed at the shrine a hundred steps away. "Those people are inside the shrine," he said. The shrine had a barrier that could trap them. "If you go any further, you will enter the barrier filed … Mistress Witch lady, you must be careful when you enter. None of the monks and witches who came to eliminate the Yōkai was able to come out alive. I think they should have been eaten by the Yōkai."

"Naturally, I know my limits."

Mao replied, then pulled Horii 's sleeve and slowly walked towards the shrine.

"Do you smell it?" Mao suddenly said when they were about to reach the entrance of the shrine.

"Yes." Horii nodded. She had a keener sense of smell than normal people and had long sensed the stench of a low-grade Yōkai that enveloped the shrine.

Mao covered nose and frowned in disgust, "It really smells terrible."

Horii smiled helplessly as she looked at her dissatisfied expression. Mao had always been a cleaner, and even she herself felt that this smell was really unpleasant, let alone a person with serious cleanliness?

"… No, there seems to be a miasma inside as well." Mao suddenly raised eyebrows and changed disgusted expression. She spread out her palm towards Horii and said, " Horii, give it to me."

Horii understood and took out two adult-shaped talismans from her bag and handed them to Mao. Mao took them and chanted an incantation with talismans between her fingers. Talismans instantly turned into two streaks of blue light and entered through the window of the shrine.

Everything returned to calm after two "chi-chi" sounds came from inside.

Horii also frowned.

Those low-grade Yōkai seemed to be more powerful than they had imagined.

"The Shiki has been torn to pieces." Mao looked at her and said.

"But it's a bit abnormal. Those Yōkai didn't retaliate when they were attacked." Horii wrote in her hand.

"Perhaps it was due to the influence of the barrier?"

"The barrier outside the shrine can only trap them. There was no reason why they should not even dare to come out of the shrine. It seems that there was a mysterious power restricting them inside the shrine. I just don't know what it was."

"Since we don't know, then let's go in and take a look," Mao said.

"It's better to make some preparations before entering." After Horii finished, she grabbed Mao 's hand. She was really worried that this little ancestor would be willful for a moment and rushed into the shrine.

"Why are you pulling me for? I won't go in now!" Mao lowered her head and looked at the stones on the ground. She angrily kicked stones and angrily said. "It's really annoying to get rid of Yōkai and stuff like that!"

…

On the way to the village chief's home, Horii saw a pair of young siblings. The siblings looked about the same age as Eiko. They were dressed in rags and pitifully snuggled up in a corner.

Mao followed her line of sight and saw the two of them as well.

Without waiting for her to ask curiously, the village chief explained, "That's Torajirou and his sister Akiko. Their parents died in the last invasion of the Yōkai, so they became orphans."

"Why don't they go home? Nobody cares about them?" Mao asked.

"Most of the houses in the village have been destroyed by the Yōkai. They haven't been rebuilt yet. Everyone's living is not good now. How can they bother with the two children? Furthermore, I heard …" The village chief lowered his voice and mysteriously moved closer to the True Yang. "They are ominous."

"Ominous?" Mao 's tone rose slightly.

"It's the reincarnation of Calamity God … Everyone thinks that they brought calamity to the village."

"Is that so?" Mao smiled coldly and pulled Horii towards the two children.

Feeling that someone was approaching, the younger sister, Akiko, raised her head gently. Her clear amber eyes flashed with a trace of panic from being disturbed.

An ominous person?

Horii stared at the pair of eyes and observed them repeatedly. Although she did not know how to divine like Reiko, a person with such pure eyes did not look like an ominous person. On the contrary, she could feel weak Spiritual Energy fluctuations from the girl's body.

"Say something. "She hinted Mao with her eyes.

Mao rolled her eyes and tried to stiffly imitate Reiko's usual gentle smile. She asked, "You are … called Akiko, aren't you?"

The girl blinked timidly, her large watery eyes revealing some uneasiness.

"You don't have to be afraid …"

Mao did not know how to ease the little girl. After a long time of struggling, she could only squeeze out such a dry sentence.

Perhaps seeing that Mao did not have any hostile intentions, the girl nodded slightly. She glanced at the old village chief standing not far away and whispered, "Mistress Witch Lord, are you here to eliminate the demons?"

"Yes, we have been entrusted."

"Mistress Witch Lord, you should leave quickly. This place is very dangerous."

Mao was amused by her sincere suggestion, "If it's dangerous here, we can't leave. As a witch, my duty is to protect people like you."

"But … it's really dangerous. The village chief is not the original village chief anymore …" Akiko's words stopped abruptly. She instantly restrained all her expressions and lowered her head. She just squeezed herself to her brother's side.

"Mistress Witch." Mao was still curious about Akiko's behaviour, but the village chief's voice suddenly came from behind, causing her to be slightly surprised.

Was her perception lacking enough that she could not discover someone is approaching? She raised her head to look at Horii and found that Horii also shook her head with a calm expression.

"Lady Witch, it's going to be dark soon. Let's hurry up and leave."

"Let's go first." Horii silently wrote in Mao's hand.

Mao glanced at the siblings and signaled for the village chief to lead the way.

Her instincts told her that the siblings might know something, but with the village chief here, she probably wouldn't be able to ask anything.

Thinking of this, Mao couldn't help but put a big question mark on the village chief.

What did Akiko mean by "the village chief is not the original village chief"? Why did she appear so afraid of the village chief?

Mao only felt that she and Horii had entered a bureau filled with fog, and someone had already laid down a large net to wait for them in the dark.

To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 4

Deep into the night, moonlight climbed in through the window.

Horii leaned against the wall and sat under the window. Her back was close to the wall. The cool feeling spread throughout her body through the thin witch costume. Her fingers couldn't help but tremble twice. The cold moonlight shone on her side, outlining the beautiful silhouette that only belongs to a girl.

Mao was sleeping beside her. It was inappropriate to say that she was asleep. She opened her eyes, and there was no hint of sleepiness in her bright eyes. The moonlight was cold and the night was quiet.

She stared at Horii for a long time, then gently tugged at her sleeve. Horii lowered her head to look at her. "What's the matter?" Her eyes were filled with such inquiries. "What are you thinking?" Mao did not say anything, only writing in Horii's palm.

"I was thinking … something very strange." Horii's hand paused for a moment before continuing, "Village Chief, Akiko, and the shrine."

"Do you think there was something wrong?" "There are many concerns." Horii frowned and her fingertips slowed down, making Mao itch. "And don't you think this village is too quiet?"

Yes, the village was too quiet. Normally, there would be some people's voices in such a medium-sized village, but nothing could be heard here. "It's really too quiet indeed." Mao nodded.

"I suspect this village…" Horii was about to write something else but she heard a miserable scream from the silent night. She exchanged glances with Mao and immediately jumped up from the ground and rushed towards the direction of shrine.

The shrine was naturally the same shrine in the daytime, but the barrier that enveloped it had disappeared for some unknown reason. Before they could get close, a black shadow wrapped in dense evil energy suddenly rushed out of the shrine and pounced towards the two of them. Mao quickly picked up the bow and loosened her finger. The spirit power of the Demon Breaking Arrow quickly flew to the black shadow. The blue Spiritual Energy burned the body of the monster like a flame. The shadow gradually turned into a Spiritual Child in the air with an unwilling scream.

However, it's not over yet!

The moment this thought flashed through Horii's mind, four or five more black shadows immediately rushed out of the shrine. She silently chanted an incantation in her heart as she picked up the talisman paper and threw it in four directions, hoping to form a Five Elements Formation to temporarily suppress the black shadow.

However, the idea was good does not mean a perfect implementation. The black shadow's strength was more powerful than she had expected. A Five Elements Talisman was actually intercepted and deviated from its original position.

What should we do?

Horii did not know who can answer this question. She looked at the Yōkai charging towards her. She had no choice but closed her eyes to take out the last Spirit Cleansing Talisman.

"If you don't have the ability, don't be brave. Get out of the way!"

A familiar voice suddenly sounded. Horii felt that someone had pushed her out of the range of Yōkai attack. She opened her eyes and saw that Mao's thin figure was standing in front of her.

She picks the bow, put on the arrow, and release it. In just a few seconds, these three movements were completed in one go. The pace was so fast that Horii didn't even have time to see them clearly. The Demon Breaking Arrow shot out like lightning. Blue Spiritual Energy was even more dazzling than it was as if the flame is going to burn all the filth in the world.

"Boom!" the longbow touched the ground. "Mao!" Horii immediately got up from the ground and rushed to Mao's side. "I'm fine." Mao's face turned slightly pale. She held Horii's hand and stood steady. Then, she said, "Let's come into the shrine and have a look."

…

Mao immediately felt regret when they entered the shrine. She suggested entering the shrine only aim to find out the origins of Yōkai, but if she had known in advance the real situation, she probably wouldn't have made the same decision.

In the shrine, a young witch in white pants stood with a long sabre in hand. There was a beautiful blood flower blooming on her chest. However, the tip of the sabre pointed straight at the giant spider in the middle of the room, not wavering in the slightest.

One person and one Yōkai confronted each other, even if Horii and the others did not divert the slightest bit of their attention. "It's … a spider Yōkai." Mao said softly.

It was only now that she saw the true appearance of the Yōkai hiding in the shrine, and the transparent threads that extended from the heads of the black shadows-those were spider threads.

They fall into a trouble condition obviously. It seems that it won't be so easy to get out again. Mao tilted her head to look at Horii and realized that Horii also understood what kind of situation they met.

Perhaps it was because they had been silent for too long, or perhaps the Yōkai try to take advantage of the chance, the giant spider let out a low roar and suddenly split out a few black shadows. Shadows pounced toward Horii and the others.

This was a smart strategy, Yōkai tried to defeat the weakest enemy. Horii did not stop her mudra when she was analyzing her enemy. At the same time, she even took time to look at the strange young witch.

Her fight seemed to be even more miserable. There were even more shadows surrounding her. They attacked the young witch constantly. There was no chance for her to catch a breath. Sooner or later, she'll die if this goes on. Horii understood that they need to find a way to kill the big spider, the command centre of these shadows. That was the turning point.

She wasn't the only one who discovered this. The witch had also aware it. "Two of you, back off!" Just as Mao was trying to shoot an arrow at the spider, the young witch began her action. She told Horii and Mao to retreat, while she went up to get close to the spider.

Raising hand and waving the sword. The silver blade was dazzling as the moonlight reflection. Horii pulled Mao to hide behind the door and closed her eyes. She didn't open eyes again until the screams of the spider disappeared.

"Are you guys sent by Witch Reiko?" The weak female voice was questionable, but it carried a certain tone. "Yes, may I ask if you are witch Haruko?" Mao walked out and took a step forward to ask her.

"Yes, I am." The young witch nodded. "I know you have many questions. What I want to tell you is that the monsters' purpose is to break the seal on the Evil Dragon's bones." "Evil Dragon's bones?"

"That was a very powerful monster several hundred years ago. After its death, the demonic energy of the corpse did not dissipate. So the corpse becomes the target of many other Yōkai. If the Yōkai obtained the corpse, they could greatly increase their demonic power. In order to avoid this situation, a witch sealed the Evil Dragon Bone."

As Haruko spoke, she suddenly covered her chest and coughed softly, "Cough cough …"

"Are you all right?" Mao asked with concern.

"Cough … I'm fine. Right now, the most important thing is to prevent the Yōkai from breaking the seal."

"Where is that place?"

"It's in a dry well behind the village!"


	3. Chapter 5

Horii had never known that being dragged away was such a painful thing. After receiving Haruko's request to dig out the Demon Sealing Seal at the entrance of the village. Mao quickly pulled her towards the back of the village. The wind whistled in her ears, making her feel a little uncomfortable, but she could not refuse it. Haruko was still waiting for their reinforcement, so she could not lag behind. If it was too late, it would be bad. Hurry up, hurry up! Horii prayed silently, trying her best to keep up with Mao.

"When the issue is finished, I definitely exercise properly." she thought. Her eyes narrowed when she accidentally skimmed through the woods beside the village while she was running. Akiko! Save her first? But the seal …

Thousands of thoughts flashed through her mind, but she grabbed Mao's sleeve first. "What's wrong? Haruko is still waiting for us" Mao turned her head in confusion, her tone filled with doubt and dissatisfaction.

Horii shook her head and didn't say anything. She pointed at the forest. Mao looked in the direction Horii was pointing at and could vaguely see the white kimono flashing through the bushes corner.

"Akiko?" She'll be here soon anyway. Harii nodded.

Horii knew that they shouldn't be distracted from doing anything else at this time, but she couldn't let Akiko die. She believed that Mao thought the same. Sure enough, Mao hesitated for a moment and quickly made the decision. "Let's go take a look. Hurry up."

There was no moonlight in the pitch-black bushes. Only a quiet and uneasy atmosphere pervaded the air. Mao looked around vigilantly. She didn't know why she had been separated from Horii after entering the forest. The horrible phenomenon made her worry about Horii's situation. Suddenly, a dead branch being trampled off from behind her. That was an originally soft sound, but she still caught it.

Mao quickly turned around, only to see something red flashing through the forest and disappearing very quickly. "Lord Witch, what are you looking for?" An old voice sounded really close to her. Mao suddenly turned around and saw the village chief standing a few steps away. There was no moonlight in the forest. Apart from his scarlet eyes, she was completely unable to see the village chief's expression. However, her intuition warned that the eyes owner must be filled with malice.

" Village Chief?" She shouted suspiciously. "Haha, Mistress Witch, it's so late, why are you here?" The old village chief asked with an evil smile. Mao was shocked and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

This Village Chief seemed to be no longer the Village Chief they had met at the beginning, and that pair of strange red eyes was the best proof.

Mao kept silent and the village chief did not care as well. He said to "Is Lord Witch looking for something? For example …" He grabbed something from behind him, "For example, this child?"

Child? Mao narrowed eyes and looked carefully. She was 100 percent believe that the child was Akiko. "What do you want to do?" She asked coldly. Yamashita grinned and said, "What are you doing? Little girls at this age are delicious. What do you think I'm going to do?"

Mao's eyes turned cold. She raised her hand and drew an arrow. The tip of the arrow pointed straight at the village chief. "Let her go."

"Don't point an arrow at me, witch!" Yamashita laughed maliciously, "Otherwise, I might have strangled her to death by accident." Mao stared at the scarlet eyes and slowly put down her hand.

"You are trying to drag me." She broke the plot without any politeness. There was no answer from Yamashita. He looked in the direction of the sealed area and said to himself, "Do you feel it? The evil dragon's power has already surged out, and the seal is about to be undone." "I wish Reiko is here. This feeling of hopelessness must be great … If she hadn't hurt Master, why would Master need it … If it wasn't for her …" he said with a glance at Mao.

Mentioning Reiko, the expression on Yamashita instantly became ferocious. The hatred in his scarlet eyes burned like flames. "If it was Lord Reiko, you would have been sent to your last life. How could you still be standing here?"

"Mistress Witch, do you want to stop the seal from opening, or do you want to save this child?" He lifted Akiko up. Akiko's thin figure swayed along with his movements twice. Her lifeless little face made people worried if she was still alive.

Just as Mao was hesitating about whether or not to shot him, the sealed area suddenly shone with a bright red light. The seal was undone. The thought flashed through her mind. Yamashita laughed twice and suddenly threw Akiko into Mao's embrace. "Here you go!"

Mao responded reflexively, but she did not notice the malicious intentions hidden in his scarlet eyes. Very quickly, a burst of stinging pain. She lowered her head in astonishment and saw "Akiko" piercing her chest with tentacles. Then, she slowly raised her face and smiled strangely.

Mao endured the pain and grabbed Akiko and threw her out. Flames ignited. "Akiko", who was laughing craftily, was instantly engulfed by the azure-blue flames and quickly dissipated into the air as a Spirit Child.

"Cough cough cough …" Mao half knelt on the ground, covered her chest and coughed a few times. Her angry gaze landed on the village chief, "That's not Akiko. Where is the real Akiko?"

"I never said that it was Akiko. However, Lady Witch, you are so eager to save the child that you can't even distinguish between Yokai and humans." Yamashita Village Chief said mockingly, "Although Reiko is powerful, the witch she taught is too weak to withstand a single blow." "Shut up!"

"Haha, are you angry from embarrassment? Forget it, let me send you on your way." As he spoke, he walked to Mao and said, "Master's plan must not go wrong …"

"Do you know why there is a saying called Evil Invincible Righteousness?" Mao suddenly revealed an unfathomable smile. "What, what-ah!-" A demon-shattering arrow shot silently from the back of the mountain, and then fiercely pierced through the back of his head. Yamashita immediately let out a miserable scream. "Because they talk too much."

Mao landed on the ground and stood up. She took out a white arrow from the bazooka and placed it on the bow. Then, she loosened the bowstring at Yamashita. Arrow whistled and drew a graceful arc in the air before piercing into the eyes of Yamashita.

Few monsters could resist two demon-shattering arrows, and the mountain was no exception. Therefore, he died, and his venomous gaze turned into a Spirit Child. "Hu, I'm exhausted." Mao immediately fell to the ground when she killed Yamashita.

She's really tired. Previously, she said that she was stalling at the foot of the mountain. She could tell that the strength Yamashita was higher than her, so she tried to drag him out until Horii found her. For this reason, she didn't hesitate to endure the monster's plot.

This was a deadly gamble of her life. If Horii did not arrive on time, she would only die. Fortunately, she won. Thinking of this, she raised her head and smiled at Horii, who had just walked out of the forest with the longbow on her back. She praised, "It's rare for you to have such good accuracy. You actually shot his in the back of the head with one arrow … It's just a little bit inferior to me."

"Occasionally, there would be times when you were lucky and felt good". Horii thought silently, then rolled her eyes at Zhen Yang, walked to her side, and wrote in her palm, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a slight injury." The tentacle seemed to be deeply pierced, but in fact, it was only slightly pierced. It was not serious at all. After receiving a positive answer, Horii nodded and continued to write, "I've already found Akiko, but her brother has already been … let's hurry to the sealed area. The seal has been opened, and now we must stop that Yokai from gaining the power of the evil dragon!"

Mao nodded and grabbed the longbow and stood up from the ground. "Hiss … It's really hurt …"She muttered softly, then ignored the chaos all over her body and pulled Horii to the place where the evil dragon was buried.


	4. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 Doom is approaching**

* * *

Before they could reach the burial ground, Horii and Mao stopped as they looked at the shocking scene in front of them. At this time, the seal had been completely cast off, and the demonic red light pillar seemed to penetrate the heavens and the earth. A huge figure floated in the center of light. As time passed, the demonic power intercepted and climbed up, quickly reaching an astonishing level.

There was also white light appeared in the sky, unlike the red light it was extremely faint. Although the color of the white light was so dim that it was almost invisible, it still rushed straight towards the red light pillar like a moth pouncing on a fire.

With a "boom", the white light slashed onto the pillar of light with a loud explosion, but then something unbelievable happened. Countless slender filaments stretched out from the red pillar of light, wrapped around the white light and these filaments devoured the white light bit by bit. "It's Haruko." Mao muttered in a daze, "She's completely suppressed."

Horii bit her lower lip and grabbed the bow from the shrine and ran towards the pillar of light. "Horii, wait for me!" Mao chased after him.

As the red light grew brighter and brighter, the giant monster in the pillar of light was about to come out. Suddenly, another powerful demonic energy appeared in the sealed area and entered Horii's perception.

What's that? Horii raised her head in surprise. A faint white figure flashed in the air. At almost the same time, the red pillar of light was sliced in half by the sudden emergence of the azure-blue blade of light. A certain mysterious ritual was interrupted as well.

This time, there was no need for her to say anything else. Mao had already run to the battlefield before her. As she had expected, by the time she and Mao reached the burial ground, the battle was over. A corpse larger than the spider that they had seen before was broken into two pieces and scattered on the ground, hissing smoke-it was evident that it had been sliced at the waist by the strange monster that had suddenly appeared.

The strange monster seemed to have disappeared, leaving behind only a faint aura that showed that he had been here before. Horii gently sniffed twice and discovered that this strange demonic aura not seem dirty and unpleasant to smell, it even revealed a refreshing freshness like the snow. Even when she closed her eyes, an elegant and arrogant young master could be seen in front of her.

"Haruko!" Mao cried out in alarm. She quickly ran to Haruko, who was on the verge of death, and supported her. "Horii, hurry up and take a look!" Horii stood there and shook her head. It wasn't that she wasn't willing to save her, but that she didn't need to look closely to know that this young witch was unable to wound on her chest and the backlash of her spiritual energy made it impossible for even Reiko, who was proficient in pharmacology, to save a person who was about to die.

"Horii!" Mao angrily shouted again. Horii sighed helplessly and slowly walked over. "I can't save her." She wrote in Mao's hand. "I know" Mao bit her lip. "I just don't want to see anyone die in front of me." "Cough cough" Haruko weakly coughed twice and opened her eyes again. "Sorceress Haruko, you …" "I don't have much time left. I'll tell you all your questions now." Haruko interrupted Mao, "The monsters' goal is to open the seal and obtain the power of the evil dragon."

They were possessed on the villagers. When I noticed the situation, almost everyone was already under the control. I had no choice but to cast off the barrier of the shrine and trap the leader of the monster. However, I didn't expect one of its subordinates to escape and possessed by the village chief …" "Was the village chief possessed a long time ago?" Mao asked in a deep voice.

Haruko nodded and continued, "Then village chief tricked many mages and monks. They were eaten by the demons as soon as they entered the shrine." Haruko tone paused slightly, as if she didn't want to think too much about this matter. "Later on, that Yokai went to look for Lord Reiko, but it definitely didn't expect that it was the two of you …" "Because Lord Reiko injured that spider monster?"

"Yes, if it weren't for the fact that the monster was injured, I wouldn't have been able to trap it for so long." After saying that, Haruko took a deep breath and said, "Help me to the well. I want to re-seal the Evil Dragon's skeleton." Mao silently helped her to the well.

"Your name is Mao, aren't you?" Haruko suddenly turned around and asked. After receiving Mao's reply, she smiled and said, "Can I ask you something? My body has been contaminated by evil energy, so when I die, I will be cremated …" Mao hesitated for a moment before finally replying, "Alright."

Haruko closed her eyes as if she was relieved, holding the Demon Sealing Seal and silently chanting an ancient incantation. Spirit power gradually gathered above the well, echoing from afar. The dried well seemed to have come back to life again. The invisible heart was beating, and its pulse was fluctuating. An aura from the Ancient Desolate Realm was emitted from it.

Haruko smiled slightly, and a few small crystalline particles and light balls peeled off her body and flew into the well. "Seal it with your own soul" Mao looked at Haruko's actions and was surprised for a while before finally returning to silence. Using her own soul to seal the yokai would prevent her soul from entering reincarnation. As a witch, it was impossible for Haruko not to know this, but she still did so.

After a long time, the forest returned to silence. Haruko's hand, which was sealed on her chest, slowly fell down. Mao quickly stepped forward to support her body and let her lie on the ground smoothly.

"What are you going to do?" Horii wrote in her hand. Mao's gaze fell on Haruko's smiling face. After a moment of silence, she said, "Follow her last wishes."

After returning to the shrine, Horii and Mao immediately went to see Lord Reiko. After hearing what had happened, Reiko's expression turned ugly. "When I was divining earlier, I knew that there would be danger on your trip, but I didn't expect that it was me who brought about this danger." Reiko sighed softly, "Fortunately, the two of you are fine."

"Right." Reiko remembered another thing, "Where is the little girl you brought back?" "She was placed in a village at the foot of the mountain." Mao replied. After getting rid of the yokai in Maple Village, only a dozen villagers survived. After discussing with Horii, she first brought Akiko back.

"Haruko originally wanted to nurture her next witch, right?" "Yes, Akiko said that Haruko had taught her for a period of time, but the invasion of the village interrupted her plan. This is also one of the reasons why she was able to avoid the possession of the monster." "Lord Reiko, do you know what that powerful monster who killed the Spider Demon is?" Mao asked suddenly.

"I'm not sure. I've never heard of any powerful monsters nearby. Maybe they're just passing by." Reiko frowned slightly. After a while, she said, "Forget it. There seems to be some disturbance within the monsters recently. Don't go out this time. Remember to concentrate on cultivating. I've divined a few times and the results show that it's all fierce." Horii nodded. Just as she was about to leave with Mao, Reiko stopped her. "Mao, wait a moment."


	5. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Summer wind and Cicada**

* * *

A month later, Mao saw Horii again. The girl in red silk pants sat quietly by the window and flipped through an ancient book. Her long black hair gently hung down and landed on her shoulders. She blinked her eyelashes twice and looked at the door as if she had sensed something. "Mao." She smiled.

"Looks like you've almost recovered." Mao walked to her side and said, "Lord Reiko's medicine is very useful." "Yes, she is very powerful indeed." Horii replied. After returning from Maple Village, Reiko began to let her consume the potion formulated according to the ancient recipe. In fact, the effect was indeed very good. In just a month, Horii's voice had almost completely recovered. "Where's your ShiKi? Did you successfully summon it?" Mao asked again.

Horii shook her head. She tried many times this month, but all failed. On the other hand, Mao had summoned a pair of ShiKi after studying for a few days. Reiko also said that her talent was very high. In the future, she might even summon one of the Twelve Divine Generals. However, she knew that her talent was inferior to Mao's, so she wasn't discouraged.

"What an idiot!" Mao looked down at her and scolded her. Then, she didn't start again. She looked arrogant and said, "Anything that you don't understand that you can ask me, Lord Mao!"

This kind of aura emanating from her entire body, "Come and beg me to teach you." She looked even more childish than Eiko. Horii silently finished her evaluation in her heart, then lowered her head and wore a gloomy expression. Very soon, her book was taken away. "Well, actually you're not stupid" Mao said awkwardly, "High-grade ShiKis are indeed harder to summon than those low-grade … Hey! I apologize to you, why are you ignoring me!"

Hearing this, Horii smiled and raised her head. She caressed Mao's head and said, "I'm not sad." Really, it's so easy to deceive, but there's not even the slightest bit of success in doing this. Horii thought about it and sighed slightly. "You …!" Mao pointed at her, her face flushed red with anger. "You deliberately pretended to be sad to deceive me again!"

"Yes, yes, this isn't the first time. Mao, why are you so easily fooled?"

"Damn it! I will never be tricked again!" Horii watched Mao leave angrily and couldn't help but bend her eyebrows. She just liked to see Mao's angry profile. This habit seemed to be very difficult to break.

…

After another two days, Mao still did not appear. Horii wondered if she had gone too far. However, when she received the news from Reiko that Mao was helping to stabilize the barrier, she relaxed and went to the back mountain to continue practicing the ShiKi summoning.

Probably because it was already summer, the wind that blew towards him also carried a little warmth. Although Horii was not afraid of the heat, she still found a tree, climbed up nimbly, and found a comfortable place to lie down. The wind blew through the leaves, the mottled images of the leaves dancing on her body, the wide sleeves hanging down from the trees, swaying gently in the wind.

Hearing the sporadic cries of the cicadas, Horii thought to herself, if only time could stop here. "Hey, what are you doing?" The girl's cry came from under the tree, accompanied by a green and yellow fruit also appeared before her eyesight.

Horii wouldn't let the fruit hit her so she raised her hand to catch it.

"In order not to be called an idiot by someone again, I'm trying to study." She shook the book in her other hand and weighed the wild fruit up and down. "This fruit is not ripe yet, can't you wait for it to ripen before picking it?" "The sour ones are the delicious ones." Horii listened to her words and tasted it. The sour and astringent smell made her almost smash down. "It tastes bad." She commented. "You have a strange taste." Mao said with a unbelievable expression. Horii thought "Who exactly has a weird taste!?"

"Oh right, aren't you helping Lord Reiko stabilize the barrier? Why do you have time to come over?" "Actually, the rate of loss of spirit power has slowed down. It will probably be completely repaired before winter begins. Furthermore, the monsters seem to be showing signs of retreating recently, so I'll be fine after I leave for a while." Mao explained while biting the wild fruit.

"Slow down?"

"Probably because of the recent destruction of quite a few nearby monsters." Mao said, "Just increase your strength as fast as you could. When Lord Reiko and I were busy, you were actually slacking off!" "Isn't this slacking off? I'm practicing summon ShiKi." Horii explained. "Hummm, I won't talk with you anymore." Mao stood up and said, "I'm going back."

Horii looked at her departing back and suddenly shouted to her, "Mao, will you come here again next summer?" "What nonsense are you talking about?" A green wild fruit broke through the air and smashed into her forehead, "Not only next year, the year after, but the year after. As long as I want to come, of course I will come!"

Horii covered her forehead and rubbed it. She couldn't help but laugh when she looked at Mao's bright and unbridled smile. "As you leave so tragically, making me feel like you're gone forever!" Another wild fruit flew over and was successfully dodged by Horii. "Don't curse me!"

After Mao left, the back mountain seemed to have returned to silence. Horii opened the ancient book and looked at it again. Suddenly, she was surprised to discover that even the contents that she originally couldn't understand were now understandable. "… Wandering soul, please listen to my summons …" Originally, she was just casually reading according to the book, but gradually, Horii noticed the loss of spiritual energy, and the spiritual energy in the air was slowly condensing.

Finally, the Spiritual Energy fluctuations stopped. Horii leaned her head and looked down with unique feeling. The woman in the luxurious twelve-piece clothes also happened to obediently raise her head. Her gaze fell into a pair of cherry-colored eyes unexpectedly.

Horii looked at this woman who had suddenly appeared. Her long smooth hair was like a waterfall, her features were like a picture, and her every move was elegant. If Horii hadn't seen the woman's appearance with her own eyes, she would have thought that she was a princess. Horii's gaze landed on the flaming mark on her forehead and asked, "Are you my ShiKi?"

The woman leaned on the ground and replied respectfully, "Yes, Master." "Then what's your name?" "I don't have a name." Horii stared at her enchanting face for a long time before finally saying, "Since you don't have a name, I'll give you one." "From now on, your name is Masu."


	6. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: You complete me**

* * *

Time slowly passed through the day-to-day curse practice. Unknowingly, winter arrived.

The villagers at the foot of the mountain had already begun to prepare for the New Year Celebration. Reiko had to treat many people who came to the shrine to pray for blessings every day. Horii had not seen Mao for a long time, she heard that Mao had gone out to sharpen her ability. Horii looked at the big tree outside the shrine and sighed.

Right now, only she was idle.

"Masu, when Mao will be back?"

"Probably after the New Year Celebration."

"Not even before the New Year Celebration …" Horii raised her head. The winter sunlight pierced the branches of the tree and fell on her face.

"Masu, this winter is really cold."

…

The dull life did not last long.

The day before the New Year eve, Reiko's Shiki (Shikigami are conjured beings, made alive through a complex conjuring ceremony) brought the latest news about Mao.

"Lord Mao died together with and the Yokai."

Horii tightly covered her ears, but Shiki's voice still rushed in through her fingers.

How is that possible?

How could that seemingly arrogant but awkward girl die so suddenly?

Horii thought this must be a joke of the Shiki (Shikigami are conjured beings, made alive through a complex conjuring ceremony). However, everyone knew that Reiko's Shiki would not do anything other than convey information.

Reiko accepted the truth without saying any word.

In fact, two days ago, before the tragedy happened on Mao, Reiko had already divined for Mao. The trigrams were extremely fierce. At that time, Reiko only thought it was a divination mistake, but now it seemed that there was not the slightest mistake.

Lingzi's mood had only been low for two days before she regained her composure and stepped up her training for Holly.

Reiko had a faint premonition that she would not be able to live long, and only Horii would be able to take on the responsibility of guarding the village after she died.

The boring practices repeated over and over again, and this situation continued until the summer of the next year.

At that time, Horii was just 13 years old.

…

On a summer night, the moonlight was very bright.

The cicada in the daytime just stopped noising but the frogs in the farmland began singing at night.

Suddenly, the wind stopped.

The noisy frog also seemed to have been choked by someone, instantly losing its voice.

Two shocking strands of demonic energy appeared one after another in the back mountain, awakening the sleeping Horii. She opened her eyes and grabbed her coat. Just as she was about to rush out to look for Reiko, she lifted the curtain and saw that Reiko was standing at the door, smiling at her.

She put on the beautiful figured coat, and her long black hair, which had always been scattered behind her head, also be tied up. Her appearance was dignified and solemn.

"Lord Reiko …"

Horii said in a daze. She really couldn't understand Reiko's actions. The Yokai had come, so why was Reiko dressed so seriously instead of preparing for the battle?

Reiko shook her head with a chuckle and interrupted Horii, "Can you accompany me to meet an old friend, Horii?"

What kind of old friend would visit in the middle of the night?

A faint doubt appeared in Horii's mind. However, when she thought of the two Yokais that had suddenly appeared, she suddenly understood.

If Reiko's friends were those Yokais, then her relaxed behaviour could be understandable.

Horii thought like this but did not ask anything. She nodded silently and changed into a witch dress to follow behind Reiko.

The night was quiet.

The silver full moon hung high up in the night sky, and the moonlight illuminated the path to the back mountain.

From afar, Horii could see two figures, one tall and one short. The same silver hair loosened behind his shoulders, reflecting the moonlight as if there were waves of water flowing in it.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the taller man turned around first.

That was undoubtedly a very handsome man. He wore a brocade robe with bamboo flowers and was covered in armour. Two swords were attached to his waist. His sharp ears and two blue demon patterns showed his inhuman identity.

It was supposed to be a cold and arrogant image, but it softened because of the smile on his lips.

He chuckled, "Long time no see, Reiko."

"It's been a long time since we parted ten years ago, Great General Dog," Reiko replied with a smile.

"The Yokai from the west direction have calmed down quite a bit recently. I came to see you when I was passing by." Said the Dog General.

As he spoke, he turned to look at the youth who was half a head shorter than him, his eyes filled with pride as a father.

"This is my son, the Sesshoumaru."

"Sure enough, he is very similar to you."

"This should be the first time you've seen him, right?"

Reiko nodded, "This is indeed the first time you meet him, right?"

Horii stood behind Reiko and stole a peek.

The young man's facial features seemed to be even more exquisite than his father's. There were two demonic red patterns on his fair jade-like faces. A crescent appeared on his foreheads. His cold temperament was matched by a white-backed eighth-level red cherry-patterned luxurious dress. People couldn't help but think of such descriptions of a noble young master.

However … his demonic aura seemed to have a faint sense of familiarity.

Horii gently sniffed. The cold and clear aura was like the first snow of winter … It seemed to be the demonic aura she had sensed in Maple Village

When she was distracted, her gaze lingered for a long time.

Sensing her peeking, Sesshoumaru, who had not given his face since they met, suddenly raised his head. He had inherited the golden eyes of the Dog Race, but they weren't as gentle as the Dog General's. Instead, they were as cold as his temperament.

A weak human.

After seeing clearly that it was only a human staring at him, Sesshoumaru withdrew his gaze.

Horii was swept a glance by his gaze, and his mind was instantly blank.

There was probably no one in the world who could grow to such a peerless beauty. That was not the beauty that a human should have.

No, even a monster wouldn't have such a face. Horii thought.

Perhaps it was because she was too impressed at first sight that she recalled this scene over and over again during the two hundred years that she was sealed.

She remembered that shocking glance.

Of course, this was another story.

Apart from being stunned by the Sesshoumaru, the current Horii could also feel the pressure coming from his body-it was because his strength was far superior to hers.

For some reason, Horii suddenly felt a little thirsty for power.

She raised her hand to cover her chest.

Horii's heart was pounding, and Horii's blood seemed to have been ignited by this inexplicable desire, burning and boiling.

She wanted power …

She wanted to … become as powerful as the Sesshoumaru.


End file.
